Azimuth: Ride The Winds is a phenomenal looking game that I had a peek at earlier this week, and after digging into it – I’ve gotta say, I’m so excited for it! Lior and Sharon did a fantastic job on their previous game, Stone Daze (which I got onto the table again just a couple weeks ago!) so I’m completely confident that Azimuth will be top-notch as well. They put a lot of love into their games, and it’s readily apparent not only in how high quality the visual design and components are, but also in terms of gameplay.

So, what is Azimuth: Ride the Winds all about? Essentially, players start the game, finding themselves in a shipwreck situation (a theme I know a thing or two about… wink, wink), where they’ll have to navigate their stranded raft to their lighthouse. The player meeples and wooden lighthouses are super cute, and there’s an elegance and simplicity to all of the game’s visuals that lend themselves really well to the gameplay. Simple rules belie the strategy involved, as you’ve got to plan your voyage while being flexible enough to pivot your strategy as the winds change on a whim.

The game itself reminds me a bit of a puzzle. Moving your raft, making use of winds (and your opponent’s winds) to trek across the board – it’s all a brain teaser that you and your opponents have to crack in order to gain the upper hand against one another. Azimuth is the kind of game you can learn in just a couple minutes, play in a half hour, but wrack your brain over specific strategies and tactics. The Kickstarter page features a pretty great gif showing the basics of how the game is played:

There’s also a video on the Kickstarter page that gives a run-down of the rules, as well as a link to the full rules as they stand currently. (For all you rules nerds out there, like me!)

If you’re interested in Azimuth, I suggest you pledge now – there’s still just around 24 hours left to get in on the early bird pricing! Or you could wait and see what stretch goals are hit (honestly, I’ve got my fingers crossed for the Ocean Cube mechanics. I love a little mischief and mayhem in my games. >:-)) Swing over to the Kickstarter page and check it out!